BFS said closer to winding up

BFS said closer to winding up

SINGAPORE (Reuter): High Court yesterday allowed ING Bank to
begin settling at least $126 million (US$90 million) of the known
debts of Baring Futures Singapore (BFS).

The plan was to eventually wind up the company and a new firm,
Baring Futures International, would start operations in Southeast
Asia when feasible, an ING spokesman said.

The court appointed three Price Waterhouse partners as
judicial managers of BFS. The three were previously interim
judicial managers.

They now have 60 days to present a plan to the company and its
creditors to repay all presently known creditors, said Rajan
Menon, a lawyer for ING.

Citibank was the largest creditor, owed S$86 million ($61.4
million), followed by Banque Nationale de Paris, which was owed
about S$36 million ($25.7 million), Menon told the court.

Futures deals by former Baring's trader Nick Leeson were
blamed for the collapse of the Barings group earlier this year.
ING of the Netherlands bought Barings in March.

A Television Corporation of Singapore report quoted ING Bank
spokesman Wieger Sietsma saying the final debt of BFS could
exceed S$126 million.

An ING official declined to discuss details of the court
decision.